Cream of Roasted Asparagus Soup

This is a soup that I have been meaning to make for years. When I was an intern in college my bosses took me out to a great little restaurant near our office that had a fantastic cream of asparagus soup, it was my first taste of asparagus actually. I finally saw it on sale at the grocery store and decided to just wing it. The result was nice and light with a slight thickness to the soup. I decided to roast my asparagus instead of only boiling in an attempt to really bring the flavor out and I believe it was a complete success. The whole soup was made in about 30 minutes and ready to eat in another 30 minutes and like any good recipe it only got better the longer it sat!

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Cream of Roasted Asparagus Soup: Serves 4

2 Pounds Fresh Asparagus
1TB Olive Oil
2TB Butter
2C Milk (I used Fat Free)
2TB Flour
4C Chicken Stock (I used Fat Free) ** for vegetarians feel free to use Veggie Stock
1 Onion - Chopped (approx 1/2-3/4C)
Salt & Pepper

First you need to roast the asparagus, so turn your oven to 400°, rinse your asparagus and trim the rough ends off while the oven heats up. Toss the asparagus with the olive oil and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Spread out in a single layer on a sheet pan or two and place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes - you want the asparagus to actually get a little soft as in the end we blend it all together. While the asparagus is cooking you can get the rest of the soup going.

In a large pot bring your chicken stock to a low boil / simmer. In a skillet add 1TB of butter with the onions and some salt and pepper, cook over medium heat until the onions are very soft and translucent, add the remaining tablespoon of butter and once it has melted add the flour and stir constantly to make a paste, continue stirring so the flour doesn't burn and let it cook for a minute. Once the flour has had a minute to cook add the milk and with a whisk incorporate the flour into the milk, bring up to a low simmer while constantly stirring and let the milk and flour mixture thicken. Once it has gotten to a thin gravy consistency add it to the chicken stock and stir to mix it all together.

Okay your asparagus should be done cooking by now, take about 1/3 of the asparagus and chop it into 1" segments and set to the side, toss the remaining asparagus into the stock pot and let it cook for a minute or two. Now for the fun part....get your blender out! Pour the soup and asparagus into the blender (make sure to leave some air space and keep your hand on top of the lid, I typically fill the blender up halfway! the steam will try to push the lid off - I learned this the hard way when I exploded hot berry compote all over my fridge, ceiling and cabinets years ago!). Now blend, puree, beat the heck out of it until nice and smooth, put in a new stock pot or a big bowl and repeat until all of the soup and asparagus that was in the pot is blended. Return all of the blended soup to the stock pot and let it simmer for 15-30 minutes just so all the flavors can merry together, give it a stir occasionally and once you have finished cooking it add those reserved asparagus segments to the soup, ladle up, serve and enjoy!

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WW: 4 Points Plus / serving